Fleet of Enlightened Benevolence
One of dozens of fleets within the Covenant Navy, the Fleet of Enlightened Benevolence earned much attention during the Human-Covenant War, and would continue to serve in during the Great Schism and War of Vengeance as a frontline unit. Devastated during the Battle of Minorca, the fleet would be used by the Prophet of Regret to spearhead his attempt to reach the Ark, during which its flagship, the Bringer of Holy Light, would go missing and the rest of the fleet would be either destroyed by the local UNSC defences, or boarded and captured by later Jiralhanae "reinforcements". After the Schism, the fleet was rebuilt from the ground up as the Second Fleet of Enlightened Benevolence around the Bringer of Holy Light, taking part in the defence of Sanghelios, the recapture of Cloistering Expectancy, and assisted in the attack on Expansive Judgement. It was eventually disbanded again in 2566 after losing too many ships in combat to remain functional, and its various ships were reassigned to other fleets to replace losses. History Early History The Fleet of Enlightened Benevolence, named after its original flagship, was formed during the dying years of the Unggoy Rebellion, serving as a troop transport unit for Sangheili legions to put down uprisings as they occured. As peace (or, at least, a prolonged period of calm) returned to the Covenant, the Fleet of Enlightened Benevolence was retasked with exploring the galaxy for the Covenant's search for holy Forerunner relics. Its first Supreme Commander, Suna 'Morhekee, retired with full honours the year before the outbreak of the Human-Covenant War, replaced with Supreme Commander Huna 'Warrumee. During the early years of the war with the humans, the fleet was tasked with the protection of Covenant trade routes against Kig-Yar pirates and Sangheili heretics. As the war drew on, far longer than the Prophets had indicated, more of the Covenant's military reserves were committed, with less-than-ideal protection forces replacing them. During a routine patrol of Doisac's moon, Teash, the fleet was attacked by a massive, well-prepared, and well armed fleet of makeshift Jiralhanae rebel warships formerly belonging to the Doisac Orbital Militia. Although managing to defeat the rebels, the fleet was badly damaged, and requested reinforcements from the Fleet of Particular Justice. Particular Justice arrived in time to witness a second assault on the fleet, this one destroying the Enlightened Benevolence itself, and joined the fray. Only the arrival of Particular Justice saved the Fleet of Enlightened Benevolence from total destruction. While a pair of frigates were deployed to alert High Charity to the uprising, the rest of the fleet joined Particular Justice in suppressing the uprising. Confining it to its point of origin, Teash, the fleet blockaded the moon until troop ships arrived, bearing the Kr'Rana, Thanatos and He'rakan Legions, who engaged the rebels on the ground. The Purity of Spirit, Righteous Fury, and Glorious Crusader bombarded the rebel headquarters from orbit, glassing a small portion of the moons surface, and destroying the settlement of Warrik. Local Jiralhanae Master-Packs were moved in to secure the ground and reestablish Covenant control, and the fleets were redeployed - Particular Justice to return to its campaign against human colonies and fleet, Enlightened Benevolence to repair and refit before returning to active duty. Minorca With the death of its Supreme Commander, and the destruction of its flagship, the Council of Masters considered renaming the fleet after its new flagship, Patient Eagerness, but decided to keep its original name as a mark of honour towards the ship and the courage of its crew. Its new Supreme Commander, Kuna 'Tsunamee, percieving this as a snub, never regarded the Council of Masters decision as legitimate, and privately renamed the fleet as Patient Eagerness. The other Ship Masters of the fleet, however, refused to use the name, and though threatened with charges of mutiny, 'Tsunamee eventually backed down, restoring the name. Its first assignment after the Teash Uprising was a private mission from the Ministry of Acquisition, to secure and excavate the relics of a recently discovered reliquary world. Upon arrival, the fleet was ambushed by a waiting human fleet, and 'Tsunamee's tactical ineptitude saw half of the fleet destroyed - including the Patient Eagerness. Taking command of the situation quickly, Fleet Master Zuro 'Xoramee of the Purity of Spirit ordered the rest of the fleet to make an emergency slipspace jump to High Charity to alert the Hierarchs, after dropping their ground forces. Unable to return and reinforce the ground forces for over six months, Zuro 'Xoramee was put on trial for incompetence. His acquital was swift, with all three major hierarchs in favour of placing him at the head of the Fleet of Enlightened Benevolence and tasking him with claiming the reliquary world. Returning, Benevolent Enlightenment, now with the Purity of Spirit as its temporary flagship, managed to secure an area of space near the planets moon, Juno, establishing it as a Covenant base of operations. Over the next three months of the campaign, the battle was characterised by a series of attacks, counter-attacks, and counter-counter-attacks that saw control of various regions trade ownership between the UNSC and the Covenant. In September, a stealthy withdrawal by the UNSC was made, and as the Covenant realised this, and began to move in, a NOVA bomb was detonated, nearly catching the fleet in its blast radius. Once again, only a swift retreat saved the fleet from annihilationm, leaving only thirteen cruisers and a carrier. The Purity of Spirit was damaged seemingly beyond repair, and was scheduled for decommissioning above Te. Earth and Ares IV Requisitioned by the Prophet of Regret and the Minister of Acquisition for another artefact retrieval mission, the fleet proceed to a planet that scriptures described as the location of the holiest of Forerunner relics, the Ark. Finding only a heavily entrenched UNSC defence fleet, greater than that at Minorca or even Reach, the fleet was almost totally wiped out, with only a handful of ships surviving. The Infinite Sacrifice, the Prophet of Regret's personal Assault Carrier and temporarily attached to the Fleet of Enlightened Benevolence, managed to reach the planets surface, devastating a human city. The Enlightenment, now under the command of Fleet Master Zuro Dun 'Xoramee and renamed the Bringer of Holy Light, was badly damaged by Spartan-117, forced to make an emergency slipspace jump. Drawing two UNSC ships in its wake, the Carrier Aeneas and the Prowler Hunters Arrow, its coordinates and fate are unknown. With most of the fleet in complete disarray, many destroyed or damaged, the fleet was officially disbanded in November, upon the outbreak of the Great Schism, its remnants integrated into other fleets. Update: A joint UNSC-Sangheili taskforce was dispatched after the Battle of Installation 00 to track the slipspace signature of the ship and attempt to rescue any surviving personnel. War of Vengeance With the dire situation of the Sangheili fleet, even badly damaged ships like the Bringer of Holy Light were recommissioned - before the Schism, the ship would have been deemed unusable and scrapped. With the Sangheili unable to build new ships to replace those lost in battle, and finding it extremely difficult to repair and maintain the ships they kept in service, they could no longer afford such luxuries. The Holy Light would form the core of a new combat unit, named the Second Fleet of Enlightened Benevolence after the Holy Light's former fleet, headed by Supreme Commander Zuro Dun 'Xoramee After the Battle of Ares IV, the recovered Bringer of Holy Light, after undergoing extensive refit and repair, as well as human-derived updates in technology, managed to reform the Fleet of Enlightened Benevolence, using the recovered ships formerly attached to it as the core about which it was recreated. Between 2553 and 2554, the fleet participated in attacks on seven Covenant Loyalist-held worlds, but is especially remembered for its defence of the Cloistering Expectancy and Triumphant Declaration colonies, Separatist-held worlds that were attacked by the Jiralhanae-operated Fleet of Unencumbered Fury, Fleet of Apathetic Assessment and Fleet of Heresy Destruction. Managing to hold the orbital perimeter with the assistance of the new UNSC Audacious-Class Battleship Aeneas II, the fleet fended off numerous attacks by the Jiralhanae, using the nearby asteroid as cover and, with the setting of HORNET mines laid by the Prowler Hunters Arrow, makeshift projectiles. Their innovation saved the colony, allowing six other fleets to arrive, crushing the Jiralhanae aggressors. The last actions of the Fleet of Enlightened Benevolence was its assault against the Jiralhanae colony of Expansive Judgement. With the assistance of the UNSC's Battlegroup Aeneas, the fleet entered the system making a precision slipspace entry in-atmosphere, destroying the Jiralhanae central command, and leaving again dealing devastation like that done to New Mombasa. Returning, the fleet engaged the orbiting ships. Confused and scattered, it was not long before the fleet had gained orbital supremacy, and secured a corridor through which Sangheili troop ships could ferry legions of Sangheili warriors and divisions of UNSC soldiers and Marines to capture the groundside regions. The Jiralhanae retaliatory response was unexpected, both in its swiftness and in its effectiveness, committing seven fleets to the counter-attack. The Fleet of Enlightened Benevolence managed to fight them to a standstill - however, this action was merely distraction as another fleets landed on the far side of the planet, out of view of the Sangheili fleet, landing Jiralhanae ground forces. Enlightened Benevolence fought its way out of the trap, losing two thirs of its number to Jiralhanae ships, but arrived in time to destroy the enemy fleet and assist the ground forces, preventing what would have been a total route. After more Sangheili fleets arrived to secure the system, the fleet was officially disbanded. Fleet Master 'Xoramee was nanmed the Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Triumphant Declaration, commanding three hundred state-of-the-art ships from his flagship, the renovated Bringer of Holy Light, in his crusade against the Blood Covenant, and the other ships were integrated into other fleets. Most of their crews chose to retire, or transfer to training academies to pass on their valuable experience. Remembrance The name of Enlightened Benevolence was remembered during the foundation of the newest Sangheili colony, where the Fleet of Triumphant Declaration was invited to take part in the christening ceremonies. Named Enlightened Benevolence, Supreme Commander 'Xoramee was honoured by the foundation of the state of New 'Xoram. The hull of the Purity of Spirit, his original ship, was scavenged from Te, and used as a memorial museum to commemorate the centuries of Prophet tyranny, the wrongful war against the humans, and the Sangheili's declaration of secession. Ships of the Line Like most Sangheili fleets, the total roster runs to almost three hundred warships, many of which were destroyed or reassigned during the fleets history. The following is a truncated version of particularly distinguished ships that played a major part during the Human-Covenant War, the Great Schism and the War of Vengeance, some of which continued to operate afterwards. Ships destroyed in combat are denoted by a "†" * Flagship Enlightened Benevolence† * Flagship Patient Eagerness† * Carrier/Assault Carrier Enlightenment/Bringer of Holy Light * Cruiser Tattered Honour * Cruiser Honourable Intentions * Cruiser Glorious Crusader * Cruiser Pride of Sanghelios† * Cruiser Virtuous Heritage† * Cruiser Unwavering Convictions† * Cruiser Serene Contemplation† * Cruiser Promise of Redemption * Cruiser Purity of Spirit * Cruiser Beacon For The Pure† * Cruiser Illumination Of The Path† * Cruiser Remnants of Honour * Cruiser Rewarded Faith† * Destroyer Everlasting† * Destroyer Unending† * Destroyer Enduring† * Destroyer Righteous† * Destroyer Strong in Faith† * Destroyer Unrelenting * Destroyer Relentless * Destroyer Unwavering * Destroyer Redeemer * Destroyer Rememberance† * Destroyer Revenge * Destroyer Vengeance * Destroyer Lasting Hope† * Destroyer Future * Destroyer Clarity† * Destroyer Purity† * Destroyer Silent Fury† * Destroyer Monument† * Destroyer Testament† * Destroyer Holy Writ† * Destroyer Reasoning† * Destroyer Scripture† * Destroyer Retribution * Destroyer Demon Killer† * Destroyer Beholden to Truth† * Destroyer Revelation of Truth† * Destroyer Righteous Fury * Destroyer Oracle’s Wisdom * Destroyer Immaculate†? * Destroyer Perfection * Destroyer Flawless * Destroyer Enduring Wisdom * Herald-class Assault Carrier Ajax (UNSC diplomatic attache, post-Schism) * IX-991-class Prowler Hunters Arrow (UNSC diplomatic attache, post-Schism) Quotes *"Rumour holds that the Fleet was founded by the Prophet of Truth himself, to conduct his personal artefact searches. If so, then it is fitting that we now fight the Covenant and those who follow false Prophets!" *"I witnessed the battle in orbit above Minorca. It was a total slaughter. Half the fleet lay in ruin, the rest fleeing in ignominy and shame. I believe it is something Fleet Master 'Xoram has always felt he must make amends for." *"Supreme Commander 'Tsunamee was an idiot, intent only on following the Prophets will. It is a miracle he lasted as long as he did - usually an incompetent leader faces mutiny, is executed for his failures, and is superceded by someone more capable. It is a mark of just how likeable he was that nobody felt the courage to do so." *"The Purity of Spirit was decommissioned soon after, and then reactivated for our Lekgolo allies. Without it, we would have lost Cloistering Expectancy. And the Enlightenment was given a total refit, and renamed the Bringer of Holy Light - the ship that forged a separate alliance away from the Great Schism." *"The last anyone heard from the Immaculate, it was heading deep into unknown territories - followed by a human stealth ship. Exactly what happened to them remains a mystery to this day." Category:War of Vengeance